The Challenges of a United Germany -BY AWAKE! WRITER IN GERMANY

"WHEN my parents and I drove across the border from East Germany into West Berlin, crowds were standing on the bridges above the autobahn waving and cheering," Recalls Ronny.   "We walked around the Ku'damm shopping center in West Berlin, and once people realized that we were from East Germany, they bought us drinks.  Everyone was in a party mood."  That was November 10,1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was opened. 

The party mood extended beyond Berlin and embraced all of East Germany, which then existed as separate countries.  The Wende-which refers to the turning point or the peaceful revolution that led to the collapse of the totalitarian State of East Germany-took almost everyone by surprise.  Years later, many still regard the Wende as the happiest time within the past 50 years.  Of course, the euphoria has given way to reality, allowing us to ask, How has life changed since the Wende?  Can we learn anything from has happened?

Good-Bye Cold War

To most Germans the opening of the Berlin Wall came as a huge relief. According to some sources, nearly a thousand people dies on the murderous frontier between East and West.   In October 1990, the two Germanys were reunited into one State, the Federal Republic of Germany, with a population of about 80 million.  The German  Democratic Republic (GDR) -known as East Germany ceased to exist, just 41 years after its birth. The area formerly occupied by the GDR is now divided into six states, known as the federal states.

The world stood amazed as the Wende hastened the breakup of the Communist  bloc, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact defense alliance, and the end of the Cold War.  The troops of opposing superpowers -who had stared at one another across the inner-German border for some 40 years-withdrew from German soil. These events occurred without a shot being fired.

After reunification, dramatic change swept across Germany, chiefly affecting life in the new federal states.  For many individuals the change was more dramatic than expected. 

Next time: The Challenges of a United Germany-BY AWAKE! WRITER IN GERMANY/Freedom at Last! 

From the Awake! magazine